DDT
DDT is a well-known pesticide. The abbreviation stands for Dichloro-Diphenyl-Trichloroethane, This is its full name. The Swiss chemist Paul Hermann Müller was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1948, for his discovery.[1] In the 1960s there was a study that questioned if it was good to spread large amounts of DDT indiscriminately. The study also found that DDT could cause cancer.[2] DDT is also highly poisonous to birds and other animals further up the food chain. This is why DDT was replaced by other pesticides. The Stockholm Convention which took effect in 2004, restricts the use of DDT to vector control. The convention does not affect the use of DDT for public health issues. This is because there are very few affordable alternatives. DDT is still widely used in India,[3] North Korea and possibly elsewhere.[4]
DDT Media
Commercial product concentrate containing 50% DDT, circa 1960s
Commercial product of Ciba-Geigy Néocide (powder box, 50 g) containing 10% DDT, made in France.
'7% DDT. Don't leave me in pain, Radical will deliver me from my parasites. Keep dry.' Old product/brand of a Dutch company that does not exist anymore.
An airplane spraying DDT over Baker County, Oregon as part of a spruce budworm control project, 1955
Degradation of DDT to form DDE (by elimination of HCl, left) and DDD (by reductive dechlorination, right)
Spraying hospital beds with DDT, PAIGC hospital of Ziguinchor, 1973
Biomagnification is the build up of toxins in a food chain. The DDT concentration is in parts per million. As the trophic level increases in a food chain, the amount of toxic build up also increases. The X's represent the amount of toxic build up accumulating as the trophic level increases. Toxins build up in organism's tissues and fat. Predators accumulate higher toxins than the prey.
p,p'-DDT(desired compound)
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References
- ↑ NobelPrize.org: The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1948 Accessed July 26, 2007.
- ↑ Carson, Rachel (1962). Silent Spring. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
- ↑ Concern over excessive DDT use in Jiribam fields. The Imphal Free Press. 2008-05-05. http://www.kanglaonline.com/index.php?template=headline&newsid=42015&typeid=1. Retrieved 2008-05-05.
- ↑ van den Berg, Henk; Secretariat of the Stockholm Convention (October 23, 2008). "Global status of DDT and its alternatives for use in vector control to prevent disease" (PDF). Stockholm Convention/United Nations Environment Programme. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-11-18. Retrieved 2008-11-22.
